PRESENTERORANNOUNCER?

BYSAMSOKO Ifoneweretoputavalueonallthingsofthisworld,Ithinkinformationwouldbe oneofthemostexpensiveitemsonthelist.Knowledgeacquiredorsuppliedwould probablycomesecondtothepossessionoflife.Thisfactisprovenbyhowincoming and outgoing traffic of facts drives daytoday living. Lets be honest: news determinesthefuture.Itspresentationhasthus,overtheyears,developedintoan art, from being merely a chronological recitation of events. In both radio and television the personalities that are faced with the task of giving information have stoppedbeingjustcourierstotheirviewers.Theyembodytheeffectoftechnology onjournalismthroughtheiraudiovisualpresence,personalizingeventsfromhalfway across the globe, and bringing them in real time into the presence of an involved audience. There are several roles in the dispensation of the news, and some of the more important ones include that of the analystalso called a newscaster or news anchortoexamine,interpret,andbroadcastnewsreceivedfromvarioussources. News anchors present news stories and introduce videotaped news or live transmissions from onthescene reporters. The reporters, themselves, investigate leadsandnewstips,lookatrelevantdocuments,observeeventsatthescene,and interviewpeople.Reporterstakenotesandsometimesphotos,orevenshootvideos. Theyorganizethematerial,determinethefocusoremphasis,writetheirstories,and editaccompanyingmaterialforpresentation. Withduerespecttothemanyqualified,talentedmembersofthepress,mostofthe news content we watch and listen to these days can be compared to a well decoratedcakethattastesstale.Mostreportslookillprepared.Headlinespromise much,yetgivelittle.Thequestforwhatisconsideredtobebeautyandimitationof internationalstudioshastakenoverthatfortheaccuratesharingoftruth.Whenone looks at the quality of the reports, one considers, among many things, the pronunciationofwordsanduseofgrammar,whethertheitemhasbeeneditedfora
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givendirectionorbias,researchonwhatisbeingpresented,videoandaudioquality and much more. However, the most important element of any newscast, in my opinion,isthenewspresenter. Look at it this way, whenever one is going to give any information that matters to someoneelse,dotheysendjustanyonetodoit?Thepointofthenewscastisnot onlyabouttheinformation,butalsohowwasitpresented.Theeffectthatthenews presenterhasonhisorheraudiencecannotbequantified.InthetraditionalAfrican setup,criers,whowerewhatwemayequatetothepress,weresoimportantthatin some societies the technique and modes of presentation were passed solely along onechosenfamilyline.Toputitsimply,presentingnewsisnotajobforeveryone. NolongerdowehavequalitynewspresenterscastinthemouldsofLeonardMambo Mbotela,CatherineKasavuli,ElizabethOmollo,NjorogeMwauraandmanyothersas wedidyearsago,fluentandexpressive,yetsoberinpresentationandmatureand unbiasedinoutlook.EventhoseoftherecentpastlikeZainVirjeehaveeitherretired or migrated. But when one hears statements like triple w Instead of www, and primetimereportswhereastoryonababysunusualnamegetsequalormoretime thanthatofanalmostextinctKenyantribe,onerealizesthatthereisaproblem. Thefollowingobservationsandpointersmaybetakenasadviceforthosewhomay want to develop further in their careers or at least earn the trust of most of the viewersanytimetheyarepresenting. Whattowear A major concern: throughout the history of TV journalism, the press have defined parametersfortheappropriateappearanceofitspresentingmembers,withtheidea being to have someone dressed smartly and decently, looking classy, commanding bothrespectandearswillingtoheartheirmessage.Andyet,overtheyears,these ruleshavebeenloosenedandnewscastershavebeenappearingastrendsettersand fashionplatesandmaybeevenadvertisingforlocaldesigners.Thismaybepartofa strategytocreateapersonathatappealstomoremodernviewers,butattheendof
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theday,newspresentationisonlyaboutthenewsandtheviewer.Colourandhaut couture may actually do more harm than good by upstaging the news. The presentation itself should determine whether one gets the viewers attention, not theirtrendysmartcasualattireorfreshlydonehair.Thenewscasterisnotamodel. Theheadlinealoneshouldleadonetothestoryandcarrytheaudiencethroughto theend,orwillashortskirt,smartsuitandflashyshoesbewhattheyremember? Hungerandthirstforknowledge To be a credible presenter one must continuously update his or her knowledge aboutwhatisgoingonintheworld.Thebestnewsanchorsmonitorsocial,political and cultural development globally on a daily basis. They are always learning new words,pronouncingunfamiliarnameswithseemingfacility,andreadingconstantly sothattheylookknowledgeableandsharetheirfactswithoutshowingoff.Modern audiences are not easy to fool; they can tell one who has just crammed his information for presentations sake from one who actually knows what they are saying.Andwhenonepresentationisdone,theypassionatelyprepareforthenext as though it had never been done before. Effective news people always seek answersonbehalfoftheaudiencewhoarenotpresentwiththem. TimeandSacrifice Thedecisiontobeanewscastersignsoneup,notsomuchforglamourandfame, butforstrenuousworkconditionsandlonghours.Fewcountthecostandassuch communicatetheirconflictedattitudesandfatiguetotheaudience,who,itmustbe said,couldnotcareless.Butwhenthisisdone,thecommunicationofthenewsis compromised.Ifonecannotgivetheirbestoneshouldnotsignupforthisdifficult task. One should also spend time and even money learning valuable skills such as good pronunciation, diction, voice exercises so as to always improve method and delivery.
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HaveLife! Idonotthinkthatanypresenterwouldliketolosetheirjobtoarobot.Ifthisisso they should then not behave as though they were machines. One should give a human face to what they are saying. This does, however, not mean looking happy whenreadinggoodnews,soundinglikeoneisatwarbyusingheavytonesforasad story,orevenliketheyareplayfulbyusingexcitedvoiceswhenannouncingasports win.Itdoesmeanthatnewspresentersmusthavetheabilitytostaycalmandshow thought and purpose before commenting on what they are reading or asking questionsaboutit.Thesayingyoucannevertrustaclownwithamessageteaches thepresenterthatjokingaroundmaybefunnytoonesfriends,butfriendsarenot ones sole audience. If a presenter becomes known for being a joker, it may jeopardizehiscommunicationoftragicandseriousnewsbecausepeoplemaythink it was a prank. One should know that every report they present may contain the biggest story of their career, and they will always be remembered as the one who toldittothepeople,andshouldthereforeactwithaccordinggravity.Likeinanyart, one should let personality and emotions flow through without messing with presentation.Rememberingthatoneisjustanotherhumanbeingliketheaudience ishelpful.ThinkRichardQuestnotData(therobotfromStarTrek)itisthebalance betweenauthorityandwarmth,whichwillgiveanypresenterhumanityandlife. Beapresenter,notanactor Tobethebestonedoesnotneedtomodelthemselvesentirelyonotherswhohave succeeded,butratherpicktraitsthatworkanddeveloponesownpersonality.One does not have to copy the exact persona or accent of renowned anchors at internationalstations.Asapresenteryouarenotanentertainerbutarepresentative ofyouraudience. Finally,everyonecantellastorybutnoteveryonecantellastorywell.Sadly,there areveryfewtalentedpresenterscurrentlyonKenyanTV.
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However,thebulkofthemareyoungandhopefullyteachable,andiftheylistento instructionandconstructivecriticism,theycanmorethanlikelygrowinabilityand becomesocialandpoliticalcriticswhowillstandfortruthandcatalyzedevelopment.

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